The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Smoke Bush known botanically as Cotinus szechuanensis×coggygria and referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘DUSKY MAIDEN’.
‘DUSKY MAIDEN’ is a seedling selection made in 1997 and arising from the inventor's controlled cross-pollination of Cotinus coggygria ‘Velvet Cloak’ (unpatented) as the male parent and an unnamed Cotinus szechuanensis (species, unpatented) as the female parent. The invention was carried out and tested in the inventor's nursery and garden in Hampshire, United Kingdom.
‘DUSKY MAIDEN’ is a bushy plant suitable for use in the landscape or in a container on the patio. It is grown for its foliage color which is bright red-purple when exposed to full sun. The leaves of ‘DUSKY MAIDEN’ have wavy edges.
‘DUSKY MAIDEN’ has red-purple leaves and differs from its female parent, Cotinus szechuanensis which has green leaves. ‘DUSKY MAIDEN’ has undulate leaf margins which differ from its male parent Cotinus ‘Velvet Cloak’ whose leaf margins are flat. The closest known comparison plants known to the inventor are Cotinus ‘Grace’ (unpatented) and Cotinus ‘Royal Purple’ (unpatented). ‘Grace’ is a vigorous tall shrub with large purplish-red flowers growing in large clusters whereas ‘DUSKY MAIDEN’ is more compact with smaller leaves and undulate leaf margins. ‘DUSKY MAIDEN’ is comparable in color to ‘ROYAL PURPLE’ but produces fewer flowers, roots more easily from cuttings, and has a more compact bushy plant.
The first asexual propagation was carried out by the inventor in 1998 at the inventor's nursery in Hampshire, United Kingdom, using softwood cuttings. Since that time under careful observation, ‘DUSKY MAIDEN’ has been determined stable, uniform, and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.
An application for European Plant Breeders Rights, Application Number 2007/1446 was filed on June 6, 2007. However such applications are not published at the time of filing. The application was first published in the official gazette of the European Community Plant Variety Rights Office on Aug. 15, 2007.